2. Context
The film of Insidious (2010) is one of the Horror/Thriller Genre. The film was Directed
by James Wan and produced by Alliance Films. The Film features a large range of
Actors such as Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne.
The opening scenes to Insidious takes us through what seems like a mansion at night.
The camera movements and viewpoints allow for the audience to feel like they are
involved within the film as the camera is traveling through a dark gloomy house. This
links to Bulmler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory as the
audience, throughout choosing to watch this film, are looking for an escape. The use
of the opening scene allows for this escapism. Furthermore, the opening scene
features eerie music and sound effects when traveling through the house. The loud
noises such as the violent violin sounds and the base drums add to the atmosphere
and create an ominous environmental atmosphere for the viewers.
3. The camerawork within this film opening varies. There
are many different camera shots that establish different
things within the opening. For example: There are long
shots used to establish the setting of the film. The first
scene features an area of a large, dark house. The first
shot uses an establishing shot to let audience members
know that the they are within a children's room. As the
camera pans we can see props such as a teddy bear and
a toy horse which further indicates this. Within the dark
room a young boy can be seen sleeping. Given the
genre of the film (Horror) we can infer that the young
boy is vulnerable as he is alone in the dark room. Also,
as he is the one of the first characters to be seen, we
can connote that he will be of some importance to the
film. The camera continues to pan and uses an invisible
cut to cut to a different room of the house to continue
establishing the location. By using the invisible cut, and
a range of other shots, the audience feels as if they are
walking through the house experiencing the horror first
hand. The next location is a hallway which is again very
dark and gloomy. The camera then continues to pan to
a kitchen which includes a lot of old fashioned furniture
and decorations.
Camerawork
4. Within the window of the kitchen we can see a shadow
of a person walking into the next room, this adds the
escapism aspect of the film as the audience will see
that and feel as if they're the ones that that shadow
belongs to. The shadow also adds to the ominous
atmosphere of the film opening. The next shot starts
off as a extreme long shot which then transitions to a
long shot, to a medium shot and finally to a close up
shot of a demonic face. By using the range of camera
shots consecutively, the film successfully builds up
suspense as the subject of the shot cannot be seen
clearly until we get to the medium shot. The entire
opening section of the film Insidious uses a point of
view technique within it's camera work to allow for the
audience to feel included within the film and to also
have a successful escape from the real world.
Moreover, from the range of different camera angles,
we can tell that the environment within the film are old
fashioned. However, because of the first shot, we can
tell that the house isn't abandoned as there is living
being living what seems to be a domestic lifestyle. After
the title screen, the opening then goes to transition
into a range of different establishing shots to allow for
the audience to capture the essence of the film.
Camerawork
5. The editing of this film opening is very slow which adds to
the ominous atmosphere that was given with the different
camera angles, mise-en-scene etc. In the very first seconds
of the film we see who the film was directed by. It is
presented to the audience in the form of a logo which
looked like a spotlight. As the seconds progressed, the
spotlight turned into a ceiling light hanging from a child's
bedroom - This is when the film began. The use of this
transition was to allow for the audience to be slowly
guided into the film and for there not to be any harsh cuts
within the film's opening. This allowed for the audience to
become enticed to continue watching. When the title
screen of "Insidious" pops onto screen the editing changes
to a fast pace. This was to make the audience jump and
then become uneasy through the rest of the film -
anticipating another jumpscare. There were many uses of
the fading editing technique when presenting the
establishing shots. The use of these fades gave the scenes a
soft look. The opening scene transitions from the title
credit into a smoothly edited array of images that are
combined using the fade transition. This may be
foreshadowing the future locations of the film. The use of
this scene entices the audience to continue watching as
they will wonder what will happen or the importance of
the locations presented.
Editing
6. Throughout the entire opening scene of Insidious, there
is a heavy usage of non-diegetic sounds but no use of
diegetic sounds. By using only non-diegetic sounds, the
developers can create an atmosphere before telling the
story. The opening scene is accompanied by an ominous
sound track which included the use of violins. When
combining this with the camerawork described before,
the audience automatically get presented with an eerie
atmosphere. Furthermore, the fact that the music is
presented to the audience in a calm and slow manor,
could make the audience uneasy. As the scene
progresses the music gets more violent and loud but
quickly dilates as a demonic face is shown. This builds
up tension within viewers. As the title screen pops up
into frame, the music very quickly starts to play again
which, when combined with the fast paced editing of
the visuals, creates a jumpscare for the viewers. the
final shots of the open in scene are again, greeted with
calm and soft eerie music which again, create another
atmosphere after the previous one was just broken by
the jumpscare.
Sound
7. The mise-en-scene within the opening scenes of Insidious
is set very successfully with the use of a collage of shots of
locations, the use of props, colours and lighting and
finally characters.
The setting within the opening scene is that of a house.
The house seems to be modern as there are shots of
electronic lamps however there are also scenes
showing old-fashioned decorations. This is evident from
the use use of the collage of location shots as within the
shots, props such as grandfather clocks can be seen. These
clock are not commonly found in modern homes. From this
we can connote that the house itself is old-fashioned but
the film is set in a modern time.
The use of colour and lighting is very key to the
atmosphere within the opening scenes of Insidious. The
very beginning shots of the scene are in colour but the
lighting is extremely low-key. From this the audience can
only see a very small portion of the scene. The colour is
very minimal which may connote that the film is
not positive or jolly and the colours that are used, such as
red within the text, do not connote happy emotions.
The lighting is low-key throughout the entire opening
scene which connotes the idea of the unknown. The use of
the low lighting creates a negative atmosphere on the
audience. The lighting is perfect for it's genre of a horror.
Mise-En-Scene
8. Mise-En-Scene
The props and characters also add to the eerie and ominous atmosphere. The two
clear characters presented are a young, vulnerable boy who is sleeping and a
demonic creature lurking in the hallways of the same house that the venerable child is
sleeping in. The combination of the paranormal character and the normal, domestic
child create a tense atmosphere itself as the audience would wonder what might
happen to the child. Also knowing that the film is horror adds to the intensity. The
range of props that are used, like the grandfather clock mentioned before, also create
a dark atmosphere. Other props such as the children's toys also make the audience
feel discomfort when watching the film.
9. Mode Of Address
The title credits address the audience directly by using well known
directors, producers and actors. This may break the verisimilitude of the film but does
entice the audience to continue watching as they may recognise or be fans of some of
these producers and director's work.
I believe that the purpose of the opening scenes are to both establish the miss-en-
scene and to also create an enigma within the story. This links to Barthe's Enigma
Theory. The use of the first shots, that shows a mysterious demonic figure, create
mystery within the story and also leave the audience asking questions such as: Who is
it? Why is it there? How did it get there? etc. All which are to be answered if the
audience keep watching. The use of this mystery then entices the audience to
continue watching to find out about the figure.
10. Inspiration
After watching this opening scene of Insidious, we have been inspired to include a lot
of aspects into our own opening scenes. For example; we feel that the use of low-key
lighting is a successful aspect to any horror film and by watching this opening scene
we know that this is true. We have been inspired to use certain shots that create
tension such as the invisible cuts and also the panning shots. This opening
scene doesn't include dialogue and therefore, we will consider this when filming our
own opening scene. Finally, the lack of colour and lighting also create a successful
ominous atmosphere and we will also consider this when setting the scene of our
opening scene.
